Erol and Tiga ? Gary Barlow and MNEK ? Derek Davies and Starsmith ? Truth is, nobody knows anything about the identity of Monarchy or any other information that's not given up on their Myspace . What I do know however, is that this track is completely addictive and can be played on repeat for hours until it turns in to some sort of subliminal hypnosis. In the immortal words of Neil Buchanan "Try it yerself?!". Monarchy [...]
Apologies are in order once again. I've been neglecting you all for far too long and it's time to get back in to the blogging groove. I thought I'd start by recapping on a few things that have apparated in to my inbox in recent weeks concerning IT favourites. French five-piece Turzi have just released their Buenos Aires / Bombay EP (which you can purchase at Rough Trade here ) through Record Makers . [...]
It's not every day that you come across an octet of multi-instrumentalists from Yorkshire (or there abouts), never mind fall in love with them. So imagine my gleeful surprise when I stumbled upon Milk White White Teeth . An ensemble that just ooze charm, MWWT 's vocal harmonies matched with their unconventional approach to songwriting just gives me shivers at times and with the sheer volume of instruments and voices at hand, the possibilities are endless. They're pretty much seem like a bunch of friends doing what they love and having fun, something that's [...]
It's no secret that I'm far from being a fan of the whole mysterious identity vibe, but sometimes it kind of pays off and the music speaks for its self, and sometimes that music is HUGE. I Am Noxious is one of those rarities, wishing to remain anonymous for the foreseeable future, affording him the opportunity to focus on musical direction as I Am Noxious is a self-labelled "project in process". It's definitely paying off. Wearing his influences on his sleeve, there are three fantastic tracks on his Myspace page, with [...]
Hailing from North East London, singer, multi-instrumentalist and multi-talented Elan Tamara is about to self-release her debut EP. Gold Fishes EP is produced by the always excellent Kwes and sees Elan play piano, saxophone, flute, xylophone, Balinese gamelan, bass, guitar, percussion and drums at various points throughout. I don't think I need to say much more do I? It's brilliant. If you'd like to invest in one of the amazing handmade (and hand-drawn by Elan herself) EP's then pre-order at Rough Trade [...]
Hailing from North East London, singer, multi-instrumentalist and multi-talented Elan Tamara is about to self-release her debut EP. Gold Fishes EP is produced by the always excellent Kwes and sees Elan play piano, saxophone, flute, xylophone, Balinese gamelan, bass, guitar, percussion and drums at various points throughout. I don't think I need to say much more do I? It's brilliant. If you'd like to invest in one of the amazing handmade (and hand-drawn by Elan herself) EP's then pre-order at Rough Trade [...]
Firstly, apologies for the horrendous lack of posting this month. My laptop is a smouldering wreck and has seen better days, so I'm having to use a battered family PC. Here's what will be the beginning of a backlog I've wanted to post for a while. The Nofairs are a Trans-Atlantic duo who formed after a chance meeting at Victoria station many years ago. N was shooting a short film, Peter was coming home from his [...]
A few weeks ago I came across Glasgow via London based 21 year old all rounder Kid Adrift . Somewhat of an A&R's wet dream, his dub infused pop has been a huge hit on BBC Radio 1 and 6Music, with at least four of their DJs giving his track Red, Green and Blue airtime inside a week. Given the fact that he's a bit of an elusive character and there isn't much known about him at the moment, I decided to try and find out a little bit more. [...]
Mancunian two-piece Kiss In Cities is the new project from Laura Marsden and Joe Cross of (we are) Performance . It's still early days for their self-proclaimed "pop experiment", as the live setup is still in development, but it's clear that the tracks are practically there already (with Lunatics being my favourite thus far). Their aim is to "craft catchy tracks with darkly intelligent and kitschy, comic lyrics" and I think that sums them up pretty well, with synth-pop romp U R My Girl perfectly [...]
North London four-piece WILD PALMS are a band I've quickly fallen for in a big way since reading about them in Dazed a while back. Whilst they do have an air of familiarity in their sound (perhaps something akin to what These New Puritans would sound like if they focused less on pretension and more on musicianship), there's something really refreshing, gripping and almost consuming in their music. WILD PALMS come across as a band who aren't about the bright lights, the huge deals or the spot [...]
Just over a week ago, I gave you the chance to win two pairs of tickets to Gold Panda / Simian Mobile Disco gig at Camden Roundhouse as part of the iTunes festival . Rather than do the usual and boring thing of asking you to answer a ridiculously easy question or send me your basic details, I asked for you to send me an image/painting/drawing of whatever came to mind when listening to Gold Panda 's fantastic track Back Home . Both me and the Panda [...]
Image by Tom O'Neill It's always nice when the opportunity arises to include two Illegal Tender favourites in one post, so when I heard that the recently blogged Baby Monster had remixed Wolf Gang's debut single Pieces Of You (released through the almost sickeningly Midas-like Neon Gold ), I couldn't resist. I'd even go as far as to say that I prefer this over the original, Baby Monster have just given the track more energy and life and [...]
In an unprecedented move and courtesy of the magnificent Gold Panda and good friends Brilliantly Different , I'm giving away two pairs of tickets to the Gold Panda / Simian Mobile Disco gig at Camden's Roundhouse which is part of the iTunes Festival on the 29th of July. Rather than have you answer some ridiculously easy question or just mail me your details with "OMGZ I LUV GOLD PANDA!!!!1", I thought that I'd make it a little more interesting. If I were asked to describe Gold [...]
Every now and then you - or I at least - come across a track that just makes you think "This is why I love music so much." and Once And For All by London's Clock Opera is one of them. The new project of Guy Connelly (formerly of The Corrections ), Clock Opera are already receiving a lot of interest from labels and the like and I also have it on good authority that their live show is something of a spectacle. Although it's still early [...]
Every now and then you - or I at least - come across a track that just makes you think "This is why I love music so much." and Once And For All by London's Clock Opera is one of them. The new project of Guy Connelly (formerly of The Corrections ), Clock Opera are already receiving a lot of interest from labels and the like and I also have it on good authority that their live show is something of a spectacle. Although it's still early [...]
You Animals - Halfway to Heartbreak I've been a fan of You Animals since their formation from the embers of Komakino . In fact, Komakino were the first band I ever interviewed and are some the nicest guys you're likely to meet. Frontman Ryan even contributed an interview himself back in the day. Finally, after what seems like an age, they are releasing their debut single through Fear & Records and the video for which can be [...]
HURTS - Wonderful Life I'd heard a lot about this video and finally caught a glimpse courtesy of FUCKING DANCE . Everything about both the video and the track are incredible. Wonderful Life sounds like a classic that I'd long since forgotten but suddenly stumbled upon to remember why I loved it in the first place, the video hammers that home even more with the black and white vibe. HURTS are the result of the gradual development of Manchester [...]
Almost every UK blog worth it's salt is already all over London's Radiant Dragon , to the point that my pride got the better of me and I decided not to add to the furore. This was obviously a stupid notion and being a big fan of his 'Chinese-kraut electronic space rock', I can't hold out any longer. He's supporting Kap Bambino at Liars Club next week and also has a number of dates in London coming up including a performance for Lassaiz Faire Club supporting IT [...]
Kentish Town's Dansette Junior are comprised of Will Hunt and Lawson (of sniTch DJs ). Taking their name from an old model of Dansette record players, DJ mix elements of analogue synths, guitars and digital programming to create quite an eclectic sound. Each track almost sounds like a completely different band and it would be both a tedious exercise and a very long post if I were to try to put them all in to words; so I'll just let the music do the talking as usual. [...]
Illegal Tender Magazine
[LISTEN] Gotye (Passion Pit Remix)
Big Boi & Theophilus London (feat. TRE LUCE) - 'She Said OK'
